In a new move, Greater Manchester Police have decided to classify attacks on goths, emos and punks as hate crimes. The force will treat abuse towards subcultures similarly to how it handles those based on race, religion, disability or sexual orientation. According to a Huffingon Post UK report, the move was partly the result of campaigning by Sylvia Lancaster - who's daughter was kicked to death in Bacup, Lancashire in 2007 because she was dressed like a goth.

Hate crime legislation has become increasingly prevelant in Western societies, but remain controversial. In some countries like Canada, France, and Germany, hate crime legislation has had the side effect of chilling free speech while others argue that these laws are, in effect, restrictions on free "thought" since they depend entirely on motive. Moreover, motive is often difficult to ascertain. Others have posited that treating defendents and victims differently based on race is in violation of equal protections laws which exist in many countries as well. That said, even the ACLU has supported hate crime laws when the scope of the law is narrow and motive is well defined.

Even South Park weighed in with the April 2000 episode, Cartman's Silly Hate Crime. That one is available in the US for streaming here.

Hey, why not? I don't know a lot of physical abuse that I would classify as anything other than "hate crime" but if they are going to have the law might as well use it... right?
www.sinnerscircle.blogspot.com

It's less stupid in the UK. Some absolute sub-human scum of human beings used to get 3 years in juvie for stabbing people in the streets.
It's great if it's used correctly. I mean, back home, the only sex-related laws we've got are used to give rapists what they deserve. Every now and then, it gets mixed up and a little iffy (ex: wikieaks dude) - but it generally works. No one I've got any sort of relation to has ever been caught up in a wrongful conviction.

The case of Sophie Lancaster is absolutely horrendous. It was literally a case of 10 people going "look at the freaks", murdering her in the streets. Yes, I do believe that the people responsible for that _should_ rot away in prison.

However, I will say that I don't think it's a very proper alternative for the US legal system and how it's laid out.

Pahaha. Keep your paranoid fantasies of being a lone white warrior in a strange and nasty world to yourself. You're not going to get them. But do keep dreaming as long as you don't bore other people with your imaginary nonsense.

You really think the West is going to be so submerged by migrants that whites will become a minority? Is your mental picture of the supposed invasion that exaggerated? You're a textbook case.

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By the way, I don't fully agree that non-minorities cannot be oppressed. All that matters is who's doing the oppression, and minorities can do that to majorities too, at least in theory. Saying otherwise is a disingenuous tactic that I imagine is used more often by anti-equality trolls than by anyone sincere.

Why is the punishment contingent upon who the victim is? For criminals, give 'em the boot and lock them up. Fucking liberals need to realize some people are poison and if they commit crimes they need to be held accountable. The left think people don't need to be responsible for their own actions. People shouldn't have to worry about getting beat up for how they look and if you get tough on criminals, you'll make bullies think twice before victimizing others.

Yet more on this story, by good ol' CSM (he was the guy who in the 70s who reviewed the Clash in the NME stating they were "one of those garage bands who should have stayed in the garage and left the engine running" and Strummer wrote Garageland in retaliation. But then CSM became a fan.)